Safe With Me
by FangirlingForLife
Summary: When Alison moves to Georgia she falls for Emily, her beautiful brown eyed neighbour, but when she finds out that someone is hurting Emily she will stop at nothing to protect her. No matter what the cost. Rated T for minor language and adult themes.
1. The Girl Next Door

"Why is all of your shit in front of my front door?" Paige yelled angrily, her voice travelling loudly through the walls causing Emily to grimace.

Paige had been Emily's girlfriend for the past four years, though their relationship hadn't always been so rocky. Once upon a time Emily had actually been in love with Paige when she believed her to be a gentle and loving person. If only Emily had seen through the lies and gotten out of the predicament she was now stuck in.

It had all started two and a half years ago when Paige had taken over from her father as CEO of a major technology company. Emily was fresh out of high school and hoping to attend a prestigious culinary school in New York but her dreams had been put on hold when her parents and her aunt and uncle had died in a tragic car accident, leaving Emily the sole guardian of her now six-year-old cousin Jacob. She had then turned to Paige who had welcomed them with open arms. That was until everything had gone wrong. When Paige's business had started to see declines in profits Paige had become extremely worried and constantly on edge, usually taking it out on Emily when she came home. Emily would endure endless hours of Paige screaming and yelling words of abuse at her, thankfully she had never hurt her physically but her words had left an emotional scar on Emily, she only prayed that Paige wouldn't start on Jacob.

"Paige what's wrong?" Emily asked as she reluctantly moved from her spot on the couch, she quickly checked behind her to see Jacob's door was shut so it would be unlikely that he would hear the commotion.

Paige grunted as she pushed past Emily into the lounge, "That skank dumped all of her stuff by our apartment."

As Emily looked up her eyes met a striking blonde girl with piercing blue eyes and a smile that could melt you, "Sorry I didn't mean to start anything. I'm moving into the apartment next door and the movers just dumped my stuff here." The blonde explained, Emily offered her a warm smile.

"Sorry, hey its no problem at all. I'm sure Paige didn't mean to kick off at you. I'm Emily by the way," Emily replied as she held out her hand.

"I'm Alison," Alison announced as she took Emily's hand, both shivered at the contact feeling a spark between them. "Well it was nice meeting you but I should get back to unpacking before I upset anyone else."

Emily grimaced, "Sorry again for that. Why don't you let me help you?"

"If its not too much trouble.."

Emily smiled, "Of course not." She only hoped that Paige would understand.

Before either could speak Jacob came rushing out about to say something when he saw Alison and froze, hiding behind Emily's long tanned legs. "Emmy? Who's the pretty lady?"

Alison smiled and crouched down so she was level with him, "Hey I'm Alison. What's your name cutie pie?"

Jacob slowly made his way round to face Alison, a large smile gracing his lips, "I'm Jacob. But you can call me Jakie, can I call you Ali?"

"Why of course you may," Alison grinned.

"So Jakie I was just about to help Ali move her things into her apartment, would you like to be a good boy and help?"

Jacob nodded eagerly as he picked up a light box and went charging into Alison's apartment, "Look at me! I'm strong Emmy!"

The two girls grinned, "Be careful!" Emily warned before she and Alison both moved to carry the TV into the apartment.

"Hey, sorry if I seem rude asking this but how are you related to Jakie?"

Emily gave a sad smile as they moved the large flatscreen TV. "He's my cousin. I'm his guardian now, we uh both lost our parents in a car accident."

Alison paled, "I shouldn't have asked. Sorry, I have a big mouth sometimes.."

"You didn't know. Anyway I want to know more about you, are you from around here?"

"No I just moved here from a small town in Pennsylvania called Rosewood. I've just graduated from Hollis college," Alison explained whilst Emily listened intently in between moving furniture.

"What brings you to Savannah? It's not exactly close.."

"I needed a change of scene, besides my Grandma used to live down here and we'd visit every summer. I loved it here," Alison recalled fondly, Emily shot her a small smile.

"Where does she live now?"

Alison sighed, "She died a few months ago, I came down to sell her house and clear it out before I found this place. I needed a change of scene, Rosewood is a very small town and not in a good way."

"Did something happen back there?" Emily asked before blushing, "Sorry I'm intruding now."

Alison gave her a small smile and shook her head, "Its nice to have company. I may have only been here for a few days but it gets lonely you know?"

Emily nodded her head understandingly, "I get it. Well I'm always next door if you need someone."

Before either could say another word Paige knocked angrily on Alison's door making poor Jacob jump and run out to Emily. Alison opened the door hesitantly and was immediately pushed out of the way by Paige. "Emily what are you doing here?" She then turned to Alison, "Why is my girlfriend here?"

Emily sighed and whispered for Jakie to go back to their apartment, he nodded and ran off eagerly. Alison flinched at Paige's harsh tone, "Sorry Paige, Ali's movers just left her stuff out in the hallway so I thought that I would be a good neighbour and help her out."

"Sure," Paige grunted incredulously, "Well come home now its time for Jacob to go to bed and you need to clean up the apartment."

"But I tidied earlier," Emily argued weakly, Alison swore she saw her tremble. Paige grinned, "Yeah well maybe you need to do a better job this time. Goodbye Alison."

Emily smiled weakly as she walked past Ali and followed Paige, Alison watched helplessly as they walked back into their apartment. She knew she should have said something to Paige, Emily had been nothing but kind to Alison the girl obviously had a heart of gold so what was she doing with someone like Paige? Alison sighed as she shut her front door and slumped down onto her couch. If only she could find a way to help the brown eyed goddess trapped with that monster. There had to be something she could do.

* * *

After she had returned home Emily made Jacob some mac and cheese before getting him washed and ready for bed, she read him a quick story and within minutes he was sound asleep snoring softly. She put the book down and tucked him into bed before closing his door and sitting with Paige on the couch.

"So how was work?" Emily asked as she tried to make pleasant conversation.

Paige rolled her eyes, "What do you think Emily? How has work been for the last two years? God you're stupid sometimes."

Emily sighed, "I'm sorry Paige, you don't deserve that. Things will get better."

"You better hope they do or we'll all be living on the streets."

"If it helps I took a job at the cafe across the road the other day. It'll help to bring in more income."

"Uh huh. I'm going out to meet some people from work now. When I get back I expect all of this mess to be cleared," Paige slurred as she handed Emily another one of her empty beer bottles. Emily nodded as she watched Paige walk out before she let out a long sigh. She soon had all of Paige's trash cleaned up before throwing out the remains of the mac and cheese, not feeling hungry anymore.

A little after 9pm she heard a gentle tap on the door, she moved from her spot on the couch and answered in swiftly, knowing it wouldn't be Paige. When she opened the door she met those same blue eyes from earlier, "Hey, Alison. What are you doing here?"

Alison winced at Emily's harsh tone but let it slide after seeing what Paige had done earlier, "Hey Em. I just wanted to check on you and make sure you're okay. I heard Paige went out and I thought that you might want to share this with me?" Alison suggested as she waved a bottle of red wine to Emily and two large pizza boxes.

Emily sighed and checked to make sure Paige wasn't anywhere to be seen, if this was anything like usual then Paige wouldn't be home until around one. "That's very nice of you but I really should be getting to bed."

Emily watched Alison's face fall before continuing, "Though I suppose one glass of wine won't hurt."

She led Alison in to the spotless apartment and fetched two wine glasses and two plates for the pizza. Alison quickly opened the boxes and shared the pizza out, "I wasn't sure if you'd like pepperoni or the meat lovers so I went for both."

"Two good choices. When it comes to pizza I'm easily pleased," Emily assured laughing slightly. Alison poured out the wine as the two began eating their meal. "Em, I must admit I do have an ulterior motive for coming over. Forgive me for being blunt but what are you doing with a woman like Paige?"

"She's not that bad.." Emily defended, Alison raised her eyebrow, "Okay she's going through a tough time at the moment, her company is collapsing through. She hasn't always been this way. When I first had to take care of Jacob she was so supportive, provided for us both and gave us everything we could ever need."

"Has she.. has she ever hurt you?" Alison asked, sighing with relief when Emily shook her head. "No not physically."

"Why don't you leave her? You're clearly not happy.."

"It hasn't always been like this. Things could get better. Honestly, it's not really any of your business. I barely even know you for all I know I shouldn't be trusting you with this."

Alison looked hurt by Emily's sudden outburst but played it off, "Sorry for prying. I know this must be tough on you and yes we only met a couple of hours ago but I can't stand the idea that you're getting hurt Em, whether its physical or emotional you don't deserve it. I know we don't know each other well but theres something about you. Sorry for trying to help you out, I guess I better be off now."

With that Alison got up and walked out of Emily's apartment going back to her own, Emily cleared up the plates and the wine leaving no evidence that Alison had ever been here. She sighed as she got herself ready for bed, not wanting to be awake when Paige got in, she could always pretend to be asleep but sometimes it was no use. She knew she'd been overly harsh on Alison but it was the only way to protect herself, how was it that she barely knew the girl but somehow she had the feeling that Ali was the one she could trust, she had to let her in some time.

 **AN: So this was just a small idea in my head and it took me a while to write it up, I'm not sure I'm completely happy with this but please review and let me know what you think and if I should continue. Feedback is always appreciated :)**


	2. Not Giving In

When Emily woke up she felt relieved to hear Paige was already in the shower, last night she'd come in around 2am making as much noise as possible. It was now 7am and time for Emily to wake Jacob up. She quickly padded down to his room and shook him awake gently, after a few minutes his eyes were fully open and he was now raring to go. After changing him into his usual daywear she quickly poured him out a bowl of cocoa puffs and a glass of orange juice.

"How did you sleep last night kiddo?" Emily asked as she sipped on her own orange juice, hoping that Paige hadn't woken him up.

Jacob shrugged, "Good," He said happily before then telling her about his latest eccentric dream.

Once he had finished his breakfast Emily quickly prepared some toast and coffee for Paige who was now getting changed in the bedroom. Emily watched as Jacob brushed his teeth and began to fix her hair and make up. She changed out of her pyjamas into something suitable enough for a school run. Once ready she quickly hurried out of the door without so much as a 'goodbye' to Paige, as she and Jacob made their way out of the building they bumped into Alison in the lobby who was collecting her mail. Emily tried to hurry Jacob along but she couldn't stop him in time from calling out to Alison.

"Good morning Ali," He greeted chirpily as he raced over to her excitedly, she couldn't help but grin.

"Hey Jakie! Are you off to school now?" She asked as she looked up and gave Emily a small smile.

Jacob nodded excitedly, "I've just started first grade."

"Wow. Look at you," Alison replied with equal enthusiasm.

Emily was about to tell her younger cousin that they had to go before her phone began to ring, mentally groaning she shuffled through her bag to find it. "Hello?" She answered nervously noting it was the babysitter that picked Jacob up from school on a Monday. "What do you mean you can't pick Jakie up today? You're sick? Okay, okay its fine I can find someone else to do it. Don't worry. I'll see you next week, thanks for phoning Jane."

Once Emily hung up she noticed both Alison and Jacob staring at her expectantly, "Is everything okay?"

Emily shook her head, "Jacob's babysitter has the German measles so she can't pick Jakie up from school meaning that I'll have to cancel my shift at work."

Alison thought for a moment, "I'm not doing anything today why don't I pick him up? I can bring him back to mine for a while until you get home?"

After giving it a moments thought Emily eventually agreed not having any other options. She grabbed a piece of paper from her bag along with a pen before scribbling down two phone numbers, "Here is my cell number and my work number. If you have any problems please call me straight away. I'm working at the café right across the street if you need me urgently. I get off at half 5."

After saying their goodbyes Alison made her way back upstairs as Emily dropped off Jacob at Elementary school. The day went by quickly for both Emily and Alison as Emily distracted herself from the thought of Paige as she chatted and joked away happily with customers.

* * *

Finally it was time for Alison to pick up Jacob, with half an hour to go she quickly jumped in her car and drove around to his school arriving early so that she would definitely be there when he got out.

As soon as the doors opened sure enough Jacob came bounding out and raced over to Alison, throwing his arms around her happily, "Ali!"

"Hey Jakie," She greeted cheerfully as she hugged him back, "How was school?"

"It was fun. Here I drew this for you," Jacob said as he handed her a crayoned portrait of himself, Alison and Emily all smiling.

Alison grinned, "For me? Wow now this is definitely going up on my wall. You're one talented little guy."

Jacob blushed at her comment, "So what are we doing now?"

"How about we go and see Em at work? Are you hungry?"

Jacob nodded eagerly, his stomach rumbled to prove his point. After a ten minute drive they finally made it back to the apartment block. Alison parked the car and the two got out and headed to the café across the road. When Emily saw the two appear at the counter a flash of panic ran through her, "Is everything okay? What are you doing here?"

Alison smiled reassuringly, "Em calm down, everything is fine. Jacob was hungry and I don't have much to eat back home so I thought I'd treat him to something. What do you want sweetie?"

"Hi Emmy," He waved excitedly as he let go of Alison's hand, "Can I have a strawberry milkshake and a chocolate muffin please?"

Alison looked at Emily hesitantly who nodded, "Of course. In that case I'll have a caramel latte and a blueberry muffin please."

"Okay that will be $8.75," Emily said smiling as she watched her cousin take a seat and a reading book.

Alison quickly handed the money over to Emily giving her a tip, Emily tried to give the change back but Alison wouldn't have it, "Please, keep it."

"Fine. I'll bring your food and drinks over in a minute, thank you for looking after Jacob by the way he's never usually this comfortable around people he doesn't know."

Alison smiled and confessed, "Honestly, I'm not usually this comfortable around children but he's so sweet. You've really raised him well Em you should be proud."

She soon returned to her table where Jacob was waiting for her, stuck on one of the words in the text. Alison quickly helped him out and let him continue to read until she spotted Emily on her way over, "Hey Jakie, why don't you show Em your impressive drawings?"

A very warily Emily arrived at their table carrying their food and setting it down on the table, noting that for now the café was pretty much empty she grabbed a chair and sat beside her cousin, "How was school today kid?"

Jacob's face lit up as he leaned over to hug her, "It was good. Hey look Emmy, look what I drew for Ali!"

Emily smiled softly as he handed her his drawing which he seemed to be really impressed with, "Will you make one for me?"

"Of course," Jacob grinned toothily before beginning on his milkshake. Emily noticed more customers entering the café so she quickly pressed a kiss to his temple before getting up to serve them. "See you around half 5. Thanks again Ali."

After Alison and Jacob both finished their food she took him back to her apartment. She turned the TV on however Jacob was more interested in exploring her apartment. "Is this you?" He asked as he pointed to a young girl on a photo on her mantelpiece, Alison looked and smiled.

"Yes that's me and this is my brother Jason. You remind me of him you know. We both lost our mom when we were 9 and my dad was always too busy to look after us so Jason took care of me, he was always so strong for the both of us."

"I lost my parents too," Jacob said sighing, "And so did Emmy."

"Do you miss them?"

Jacob shrugged, "I don't really remember them much, but I'm happy I have Emmy. She's the only family I need."

Alison smiled and decided to lighten the mood, "Do you want me to show you more of my childhood photos? Some of my fashion choices..wow."

After showing Jacob all of her baby photos she then began to show him all of her photos through middle school and high school. "Who are these girls?"

Alison smiled fondly, "This is Aria, this is Spencer and this is Hanna. These girls are my best friends from Rosewood. I miss them a lot but we still keep in contact, they always stuck by me through high school."

"Was high school bad?"

Before Alison could even begin to summon a reply a knock on the door brought her out of her thoughts, "Come in, it's unlocked."

She quickly smiled when she saw Emily opening the door hesitantly, "Hey."

"Emmy!" Jacob said as he moved from his place next to Alison and wrapped his arms around his cousin.

"Hey Jakie, have you been a good boy for Ali?"

Alison grinned, "He's brilliant company. I'd be more than happy to look after him whenever you need me to, I had fun."

"Can Ali pick me up from school every Monday?" Jacob asked hopefully as he looked at Emily with big eyes.

Emily sighed, "I'm sure Ali has other things to do on a Monday.."

"I'd be more than happy to pick Jacob up, my job gives me the freedom to work when I want so I can look after him whenever you need me to."

"See.." Jacob grinned toothily.

"What about Jane? What do I tell her?" Emily asked weakly, she hated the effect that Alison had over her, always looking at her as if she was the most beautiful creature she'd ever seen, always making her weak at the knees. If only Paige wasn't in the picture..

"Jane's always on her phone, she's never this fun. Please Emmy.."

A small grin graced Emily's lips, "Fine. I'll let her know tomorrow, are you sure you're okay with this Ali?"

"Of course. Anything for you and Jacob," Alison replied, her voice held so much sincerity.

"Well that's settled then," Emily smiled as she rested her hand on Jacob's shoulder, "We should probably start on dinner, Jacob what do you say to Ali?"

Jacob smiled, "Thank you for looking after me Ali, see you soon."

Alison waved at the two before they both disappeared back into their own apartment, she let out a sigh. Why couldn't Paige realise how lucky she was having two wonderful people like Emily and Jacob in her life? Alison knew she had to find a way to protect them as much as she could. It was just a question of how.

* * *

Emily and Jacob walked back into their own smiling and talking about their encounter with Alison, "Emmy do you like Ali?"

"Jakie I barely know her," Emily warned as she unlocked her apartment, sighing with relief when she noted Paige wasn't back yet.

Jacob frowned, "But you can get to know her. She's lonely Emmy, we should be her friends."

"I have Paige, I'm not sure she'd appreciate me getting too friendly with Ali."

"But I don't like Paige," Jacob huffed, "She shouts at you, I hate it."

Emily looked taken aback with Jacob's confession, "You hear that? Jacob I'm so sorry.."

"You don't have to apologise, she's the one shouting. Why is she like that Em?"

"I don't know," Emily sighed, "I wish I knew, I wish I could stop her. If she ever- if she ever does it to you will you tell me?"

Jacob nodded, "Okay."

"I want to protect you Jakie, with this job I can finally save up enough money for us and we can get out of here, we can leave."

"Where will we go?" Jacob asked grinning as Emily squeezed his hand tightly.

"Anywhere we want. Now come on kid, enough talk about this Paige will be back soon. What do you want for dinner?"

"Spaghetti meatballs?"

"Now we're talking," Emily smirked.

The rest of the night ran smoothly as Paige still hadn't returned from work leaving just Emily and Jacob to themselves. After Jacob had gone to bed Paige had finally arrived at the apartment, Emily was only relieved that she hadn't come back when Jacob was awake. She could already tell that Paige wasn't going to be in a good mood.

"Hi Paige, how was work today?" Emily asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"How was work? You just love to point out my failure don't you. Well Emily let me tell you that the deal with Gilbert Technologies has collapsed and we have 5 days to change their minds or the whole company could be done. Stop asking dumb questions and be useful for once."

"Oh Paige, that's terrible."

Paige snorted, "Really? Like I don't fucking know. I will lose everything and so will you. I've been thinking about it and with Jacob here we're wasting a lot of money here that we need.."

"What are you trying to say?" Emily flared angrily as she stood up to move away from Paige, "I am not giving him up. He is all that I have, my only family left. He is not a waste of anything. He's here to stay."

"Fine," Paige retaliated as she started to stand up, picking up the wine glass on the table and dropping it on the hardwood floor, "Don't forget I own this place so you do what I say. Now have fun cleaning that up."

Emily sighed as she walked Paige storm off to the bedroom, slamming the door behind her. She quickly moved to clean up the mess Paige had left on the floor before collapsing on the sofa, tears clouding up her vision. After a few minutes she remembered Jacob could still be awake so she grabbed a tissue from the table and dried her eyes, jumping slightly as her phone vibrated.

She frowned when she saw a number she didn't recognise, tapping a code into her phone she unlocked it and read the text.

 **Hi Em, its Ali. R u ok? I heard something smash and raised voices? Hope u and Jakie are ok. BTW hope u don't mind me txting, u gave me ur number this morning. X**

A small smile tugged at Emily's lips as she read the message over and over again before eventually adding Alison as a contact and typing a reply-

 **I'm ok, Jakie is ok don't worry. Just a misunderstanding all settled now. Can u look after Jakie tmrw after school? I need to pick up an extra shift x  
**

As soon as Alison received the message she instantly typed out a reply, Emily grinned at her eagerness.

 **Of course I will. I'll do anything I can to help u. Anything. I'm only a door away;)**

Emily rolled her eyes but laughed at Alison's text as she locked her phone and set it down on the side. Padding along to Jacob's door she quickly made her way into his room and slid into the bed beside him, cuddling close. She would never give him up. Ever.

 **AN- Thank you so so so much for your wonderful reviews! Please let me know what you think of this chapter and I'll try to update as soon as possible. You're all amazing :)**


	3. The Other Side

The rest of the week had flown by with Alison looking after Jacob for four of the five days that he was at school. It was now Saturday and Emily finally had a day off to spend with Jacob whilst Paige was out at work trying to fix a business deal. Emily had tried to hide her delight when she woke up and remembered that she and Jacob had a whole day of peace and quiet ahead of them.

"So what do you wanna do today Jake?" Emily asked as she stood over the stove, making chocolate chip pancakes for herself and Jacob.

Jacob shrugged, "Can we go and see what Alis doing today?"

"Jakie," Emily warned, "You've seen Ali almost everyday this week, I'm sure she has a social life of her own."

"But Em, she promised that I could come over whenever," Jacob pleaded as he eyed up the pancakes Emily placed in front of them.

Emily sighed in defeat, it wasn't that she didn't like Alison, of course she did. She was too afraid to drag Ali into this mess that she had gotten herself into, "Fine. Once you've finished breakfast and showered up I will consider it."

"You're the best Emmy," Jacob grinned toothily, Emily smiled and ruffled his hair, "I know."

After the two ate their breakfasts together and got dressed and ready for the day ahead of them. Emily quickly slipped on her shoes as she watched Jacob excitedly run to the door, "Hold it kid," She grinned as she stood up and walked over to him, "Lead the way."

Jacob was out of the door in seconds and knocking on Ali's apartment. Emily quickly locked her own front door before making her way to Jacob's side as Alison greeted them both, "Hey Em, Jakie. What are you doing here?"

Emily looked down, "Did we uh bother you? It's just Jacob wanted t-"

"Of course not, like I said you can come here anytime. Its a nice surprise," Alison reassured with a slight grin, she caught Jacob's eye and they both laughed. "Please, come in."

Alison led the two cousins into her apartment before blushing as they looked up to notice she was watching cartoons, "Its always been my Saturday morning ritual to wake up at 9 to watch the Scooby Doo marathon.."

Emily laughed as Jacob made his way to the couch where he became engrossed in the cartoon. Emily looked back at Alison and noticed that she was dressed somewhat fancier than usual, "Are you sure we didn't interrupt your plans?"

Alison looked down at her pink shift dress and white blazer before blushing, "Okay you got me. A client wanted me to go and check out the new art fair just another town across. Its not a big deal, I don't have to go today."

"We can go, I did tell Jakie that you might be busy. You can have your own life Ali," Emily explained grinning slightly as Alison rambled.

Alison glanced at Jacob's disheartened face and then back at Emily's which was almost filled with disappointment, "Hey, its not a big deal. How about you come with me? I know Jakies into art so it would be good for him and I can take you both out to this sweet Italian place on the outskirts of town, oh oh and there is this amazing ice cream bar, honestly it is to die for! How does that sound?"

"Em, Emmy. Please can we go?" Jacob asked as he shook her arm slightly, Emily pretended to ponder for a moment teasing her poor cousin, "Well, if you insist. But we probably should go and change into something a little fancier. I don't think many people will appreciate me out in my pyjama shorts."

"I would," Alison muttered before turning back to Emily, "That's settled then. You go and get changed and I'll meet you down at my car in half an hour, I just have a quick phone call to make and some letters to post before I'm all yours."

Emily and Jacob soon went their separate ways to Alison back to their own apartment to change out of their comfy attire and into something more presentable. After twenty minutes they were finally ready and made their way down to Alison's car where she was already waiting for them. "Are you ready to go?" Ali asked earnestly as she unlocked her car. Both Jacob and Emily nodded in reply as Emily slipped into the passenger seat and Jacob got into the back.

Fortunately the journey only lasted half an hour and they soon arrived at their destination, Alison quickly found a parking space in the car lot and they were soon out of the car. The three all made their way into the building where the art fair was being held and paid for the tickets for VIP entry, Jacob grabbed both Emily's and Alison's hands tightly as they walked in. He let go when he spotted a painting he liked and went running over to it, Alison and Emily following behind.

"So you're an art consultant?" Emily asked Alison as the two made their way over to Jacob.

Alison nodded, "Yeah. I studied art at college and for a while I had no idea what I wanted to do, my brother was the one that pushed me into doing it and I fell in love with the job. I've always loved the atmospheres of these places, my mom would take me and Jason to them once or twice every month. She'd even take my friend Aria with us, we always shared a love for art and literature."

"You and your brother are close?" Emily asked, smiling as she listened to Alison's fond memory.

"We are. I guess it was kinda hard to leave Rosewood, I miss him a lot. But he calls all the time and he'll be visiting soon. I'll let you meet him if you promise not to tell him I miss him," Alison teased.

Emily laughed, "My lips are sealed."

The two finally found Jacob standing in front of a medium-sized painting in awe, "Hey Ali what do you think of this one?"

"I like it. Its eye-catching but nothing too flashy. This is perfect for Mrs Mendez, thank you Jacob she'll love it," Alison praised causing Jacob's face to light up, feeling proud of himself. Emily and Jacob continued to walk around the fair enjoying the art as Alison exchanged details with the artist and secured a deal before catching up with her friends.

"Did you get the painting?" Emily asked when she spotted Alison again.

Alison nodded, "The deal is done and I'll be picking up the painting on Tuesday. I must say Jakie I'm impressed with your eye for art."

Jacob blushed and slipped his hand back into Ali's, "Thank you Ali. Can we come back here soon?"

"Well this fair ends tomorrow but there will be others I can take you too. How about at the end of your semester I take you to an art gallery if you like," Alison suggested, Jacob nodded happily as Emily let out a small sigh of contentment.

"That sounds great, doesn't it Em?!"

Emily nodded and ruffled Jacob's hair, "Sure does."

The three continued to look around the art fair soaking in the beauty and uniqueness of each painting. Eventually Jacob got hungry and so they decided to head to the Italian restaurant that Alison had mentioned earlier. With it only being a block away they found it quickly and were soon offered a table as Alison happened to know the boss.

"Ah now here is my favorite customer," He greeted with his thick Italian accent as he kissed Alison on the cheek and pulled her into a hug.

"Hey Giuseppe! Good to see you again, how is Tatia doing?" Alison asked as she hugged her friend back, his face lit up when she mentioned his wife.

Giuseppe smiled, "She is good. She ask about you a lot. How are you doing? Who is this beautiful young _signora_ you have bought with you? Is she your girlfriend?"

Emily blushed and smiled as he pulled her and Jacob into a hug, "Hi I'm Emily, I'm just a friend of Ali's. This is my cousin Jacob."

"What a dashing young _bambino_. Please come right in, let me give you best table in the house," He said as he ushered them further into the restaurant.

Alison, Emily and Jacob all followed eagerly as they were led to a section higher up overlooking the whole restaurant. He pulled out the chairs for all of them and tucked them back in when they sat down. "Here are the menus I will be back over in a few minute to take orders," He said before leaving them in peace to tend to another table.

"He seems nice," Emily commented grinning as Jacob eyed the food hungrily, "It amazes me how I've lived here my whole life and yet I would never have discovered this place."

Alison smiled, "It was one of my Grandma's favorites, she and Giuseppe went way back so we always came here. He's practically family."

After a few minutes everyone had chosen what they wanted and their orders had been taken. Giuseppe brought their drinks over briefly but left them alone when he had to go back to the kitchen. Their food arrived promptly and they all began to tuck in, falling into a comfortable silence.

"This pizza is amazing," Emily gushed as she finished her first slice before washing it down with a glass of red wine.

"Here, try some of my eggplant parmesan," Alison said as she gathered a forkful and fed it to Emily, Emily groaned slightly in delight. "That is incredible. Jake how are your meatballs?"

Jacob grinned as he finished his last mouthful before his plate was clean, "I'm sorry Emmy but that was even better than yours."

Ali and Jacob both laughed as Emily tried to feign hurt before giving in, "Okay, okay I know. But mine are a close second right?"

"Of course," Jacob promised smiling.

Once Alison and Emily had finished their meals Alison signalled for the bill. Giuseppe came back over, "You are not staying for dessert?"

Alison shook her head, "No not this time. I promised Em and Jakie I'd take them over to Morelli's for dessert. But we had a great meal, as always."

Giuseppe smiled at her compliment, "Ah well you kids have a fun. You must bring them back soon."

He quickly disappeared when another customer signalled for him, "I be back in a moment. Please do not leave without saying goodbye."

"Of course," Alison agreed as she reached down for her purse, Emily reached a hand out to stop her, "Please, let me pay for this."

"No," Alison said swatting her hand away gently, "Today is all on me, you two deserve to be treated well."

Jacob smiled as Ali and Emily both began to bicker fondly over who would pay. Eventually Emily gave in and let Alison pay. After promising Giuseppe that they would all be back soon the three exited the restaurant and headed over to the ice cream place across the street that Alison had previously mentioned.

"Hi what can I get you?" The perky waitress at the counter asked as she eyed up Alison, Emily rolled her eyes and slipped her arm around Alison's waist with her other hand tightly clasped in Jacob's. Alison grinned when she realised what Emily was doing.

"I'll have one scoop of the salted caramel ice cream, what do you want Em?"

"Uhm I'll have two scoops of the death by chocolate ice cream and Jakie will have one scoop of the oreo ice cream," Emily said as she shot a smile at Alison as she ruffled Jacob's hair. They watched as the woman scooped up the icecream into their cones and handed them to each of them as Alison paid. They thanked the woman briefly before walking out of the store with their ice creams.

"So how would you like it if I brought you guys back here soon?" Alison asked as she swallowed a mouthful of her ice cream.

Both cousins nodded, "I think today is one of the best days I've had in a while. Thanks for showing us this place Ali," Emily confessed happily finishing up her cone and wiping her mouth with a napkin.

"Glad to hear it," Alison replied as she mimicked Emily's actions.

"Ali will you pick me up from school again on Monday?"

Alison nodded, "Of course. Would you like to go to the park afterwards? I'm sure I could pack up a picnic.."

"Yay!" Jacob cheered excitedly, "Will you make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with the crust cut off?"

"For you, anything," Alison promised with a laugh.

Eventually they made it back to Ali's car where Jacob fell asleep almost immediately as he began to snore, "I guess someone was tired," Emily joked lightly as she glanced back at him.

"I'm just happy that he had fun," Alison admitted, "I was worried that he wouldn't like me at first. I've never really had much experience around kids until my friend Hanna had her first child."

"You're great with Jacob, better than Paige has ever been," Emily confessed sighing as she mentioned Paige before trying to lighten the mood, "But you do spoil him waaaaay too much."

Alison smiled, "I happen to like spoiling him, I like spoiling the both of you. You know, he reminds me of my brother Jason.."

"I'm glad that you moved next door Ali, you've been nothing but wonderful."

The rest of the journey home was silent, when they finally got back to the apartment block Emily gently lifted Jacob out of the car and up the stairs followed by Alison. She helped Emily unlock the door to her apartment and followed her inside, the room was dark letting Emily know that Paige wasn't back yet. She quickly changed Jacob into his pyjamas and put him into bed before returning back to the lounge where Alison was waiting for her.

"I should probably get going now but I uh- I'm glad you had a good day Em. Spending time with you and Jacob, well I like it. Please come over whenever you need, you know I am always here for you right?"

Emily nodded as she gave Alison a genuine smile, "I know. And thank you, I really meant it when I said I've had one of the best days in a long time. You're going to make such a good mom one day."

Alison's eyes lingered on Emily's lips before reluctantly looking away. She leaned over and pressed a small kiss on Emily's cheek before saying one last goodbye. Emily sat in a daze as she watched Alison leaving her apartment, shutting the door behind her. Only breaking out of her daze when Paige arrived home and slammed the door on her way in.

"Hi Paige," Emily said trying to muster up enough courage to speak to Paige, "How did the deal go?"

"We just about pulled it off. It looks like we're still going for now so don't get too used to it."

"Well that's great to hear," Emily chirped cheerfully trying to lighten Paige's mood. Paige finally looked over at Emily and noticed her unusual fancy attire, "Why are you dressed like that?"

"Oh," Emily paused, "I just took Jacob to an art fair across town. Nothing big."

Paige opened the fridge and pulled out two cans of beer, she quickly made her way over to Emily and handed her one, "Just because we're more stable now I don't want you spending all my money on shit like that. Now, lets have a drink to celebrate my success today."

 **AN: Hope you liked this chapter, sorry I haven't updated in a while I've only just got back from my holiday so I tried to update as soon as possible. Hopefully the next chapter will be up sometime in the early week. Please let me know what you thought of this your feedback means a lot to me!:)**


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